Back to Periods

Sixteen Kingdoms

Chinese ancient architecture and grottoes from the Sixteen Kingdoms period: 2 entries, including Bingling Grottoes, Haibao Pagoda, Yinchuan, and more.

001 Grottoes Bingling Grottoes The Bingling Temple Grottoes are carved into the cliff face on the north bank of the Yellow River in Yongjing County, Linxia, Gansu. The Tibetan word “Bingling” means “where one hundred thousand Maitreya Buddhas dwell.” The Shuijing Zhu records many stone chambers in the cliffs here, called “Tangshu Caves” (ghost caves) by the Qiang people. In Cave 169 an ink inscription reading “first year of Jianhong” (Western Qin, 420 CE) was discovered, one of the earliest known dated inscriptions in Chinese grottoes. After the Liujiaxia Reservoir filled in 1968, the site can only be reached by boat. Sixteen Kingdoms-Western Qin · Gansu · Yongjing County, Linxia City, Gansu

002 Architecture Haibao Pagoda, Yinchuan Haibao Pagoda stands north of Yinchuan city, Ningxia, formerly known as Heibao Pagoda or Hebao Pagoda. Local gazetteers attribute its reconstruction to Helian Bobo of the Hu-Xia kingdom during the Sixteen Kingdoms period. A Qing-dynasty stele by Zhao Hongxie records the pagoda as nine stories, eleven stories counting the finial platform, and eleven zhang tall. Archaeological probing of the foundation in 2006, based on seated-Buddha patterned bricks and other finds, preliminarily dates the pagoda’s initial construction to the late Northern Dynasties through the Sui–Tang period. Sixteen Kingdoms-Hu Xia · Ningxia · Yinchuan, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

Explore More